


Never Gone

by xLadyOfMischief



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: A LOT of Angst, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Baby Solo, Battle of Exegol (Star Wars), Ben dies on Exegol, Ben is kinda of a Force Ghost, Ben needs a hug too, Does this count as long distance relationship if he's not really dead?, F/M, Family, First Time, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Happily Ever After because they deserve it, I SWEAR THERE'S AN HAPPY ENDING, Idiots in Love, Let Rey mourn him, Loss of Virginity, Naboo - Freeform, No force ghost twins, Post- TROS Fix- It, Post-Canon Fix-It, Post-Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, Prophecy, Rey Needs A Hug, Rey doesn't take their last name, Rey goes back to Ahch-To, Rey goes to tatooine, Rey is going to be a Solo, Someone explains them, The World Between Worlds (Star Wars), Throne Room Scene reference, Virgin Ben Solo, Virgin Rey (Star Wars), Visions, rey cries a lot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-15
Updated: 2021-03-16
Packaged: 2021-03-23 20:07:01
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 23,949
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30060840
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xLadyOfMischief/pseuds/xLadyOfMischief
Summary: After Ben's death Rey wants to stay alone as she realizes she loves him and goes back to Ahch-To, but soon she finds out that Ben isn't really gone and she starts looking for a way to bring him back.With his help she manages to find out more information and together they translate the ancient Jedi texts that could be the key to access the World Between Worlds, unfortunately this may take a few years but Rey doesn't want to give up neither is willing to give up on Ben.
Relationships: Poe Dameron/Finn, Rey & Ben Solo, Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Comments: 5
Kudos: 13





	1. Part 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [SolosHeart](https://archiveofourown.org/users/SolosHeart/gifts).



> Disclaimer: I'm a non-native English speaker so I apologize for any typos or grammatical error 🙈

Rey had barely the time to process what was happening, she remembered the lightning, her deflecting it with the two lightsabers, her own life force fading away, her trying to reach for Ben and then _nothing._ Suddenly she was feeling everything again, a warm feeling spreading throughout her body and she could literally feel _life_ flowing in her again. Even before opening her eyes Rey knew whose hand was placed on her stomach and she instinctively took it, as she'd always wanted.  
When she finally opened her eyes the first thing she saw was Ben, he looked so relieved to see her alive again and for a moment they stared at each other, how could he be alive too? When Palpatine had thrown him into the pit she hadn't been able to sense him anymore and she had thought he was dead. But it didn't matter now, she was glad to see him and to be with him at last, it was the only that mattered to her.  
Rey smiled at Ben and she whispered his name, there were so many things she wanted to tell him but she couldn't find the right words to express them, she'd never been good with words. She wanted to let him know how much he meant to her, how much she was happy that he was with her but above everything she wanted to let him she _loved_ him. She'd died before having the chance to tell him, she'd regretted it so now she felt the urge to let Ben know how she felt about him, she shyly reached for his face and let her fingers linger against his cheek, now free of the scar she'd given him the year before. She didn't even know what she was doing, she'd never done anything like that before but she leaned forward anyway and kissed him. Ben put an arm around her waist and pulled her closer and kissed her back, his lips were so soft despite the small wound on his lower lip and the taste of blood, for a long time she'd fought against her feelings for him but now she didn't want to hide them anymore.  
Rey was still kissing Ben when she felt something was wrong with him, so she drew back concerned, if he was aware that his life force was abandoning he didn't show and instead he smiled at her, that was the moment Rey knew it would be the _first_ and the _last_ time she would see Ben's smile. She grasped his hand one last time before he collapsed to the ground, she wouldn't let his hand go until the end, he had to know that she wouldn't abandon him and that he wasn't alone anymore.  
Once again it all happened so quickly that Rey didn't have the time process it, the moment before she was sitting on Ben's lap and they were together, now she was sitting alone on the cold and dusty floor of the ruined cathedral looking at empty clothes. She couldn't even find the strenght to get up, tears were streaming down her face as she recovered his shirt and she clinged to it, it was still warm and it still smelled like him. After all they've been through that was how _their story_ would end? She thought that was just the beginning, that now there wasn't any obstacle between them and they could finally live their love, clearly she'd been wrong. Ben had sacrificed _everything_ for her, to give her a future but it was a future without him and she couldn't stop sobbing because she felt like a part of her had been ripped away. For all those years back on Jakku she'd been truly convinced she was alone but only now she realized she never was because she'd been part of a dyad the whole time. And now it was too late, the _belonging_ she'd just found had been taken away from her and no one could ever understand how she was feeling.  
Rey waited for her friends for what it felt like an eternity, Star Destroyers were crushing on the planet's surface and the cathedral was shaking, soon it would crumple and if she didn't get out of there she would die again making Ben's sacrifice meaningless. But no one came for her, maybe her friends thought she was dead and they had already left, but even if that was the case Rey couldn't help but feel mad at them because none of her friends cared to retrieve at least her corpse. She knew it was stupid, she shouldn't feel that way and maybe there was an explanation but it didn't matter to her, _nothing_ else mattered anymore.  
When she finally stopped sobbing she retrieved the lightsabers too, unsure what to do with them, she only knew she couldn't leave them there so she secured them to her belt. Rey slowly rose from the ground holding Ben's shirt tightly, she didn't want to lose it because it was all that she had left of him.  
It was so strange to walk among those empty ruins, she didn't feel the Emperor's evil presence anymore however that place was a Sith planet so she could still sense dark forces there. It took Rey several minutes to find her way back to Luke's x-wing, an old Imperial TIE fighter was just next to the x-wing but it would've stayed there forever now that its pilot was gone. She looked away holding her tears back because if she'd started crying again she wouldn't be able to fly her ship, she climbed into the x-wing and started the engine.

* * *

Rey wasn't sure why of all places she'd chosen Tatooine, soon after she'd left Exegol she set the coordinates for the sandy planet, she wasn't ready to face her friends yet and she knew she wouldn't be ready for a long time. She sent them a message as soon as she landed, saying she was fine but she needed to be alone for a while, she didn't even wait for their answer aware that they would try to convince her to go back to Ajan Kloss. Even if it was a desert just like Jakku it felt different, it was less hot and sand was lighter, guided by the Force she'd found the place where once Luke used to live, it was burnt and partially buried by the sand.  
She wandered around a little bit unsure what to do, why did she go there? There was nothing there for her, but also where could she go? She had no home to go back to, there wasn't a family waiting for her and her _other half_ was gone. Of one thing she was sure, she would never become a Jedi master, she wouldn't take children away from their families and she didn't want to have anything to do with the Jedi anymore. They had used her as their own _vessel_ , as if she was their living weapon and then they'd left her to die once she had served that purpose, if it hadn't been for Ben's sacrifice she would've stayed dead.  
An idea came across her mind, since she didn't need the lightsabers anymore she could bury them there, she knew Leia had been on Tatooine only once and it hadn't been a nice experience but that was also the place where her brother had grown up, burying the lighsabers there would be a symbolic way to reunite them. But she couldn't bury them without something to protect them from the sand, she didn't have anything with her except Ben's shirt and she wanted to keep it for herself. The only thing Rey could use where the bands she always wore on her arms, she wore them only because it was an old habit so she started undoing them.  
Once Rey had finished to undo the bands she knelt in the sand and took the two lightsabers from her belt, she started wrapping them in the two strips of fabric, hoping it would be enough to protect the sabers. Rey had the sensation of something touching her shoulder, it wasn't a real touch and it was hard to explain how it felt, maybe it was her _imagination_ or it was the wind.  
She finished wrapping the sabers and put them next to her so she could dig a little bit in the sand to bury them, once again she felt that weird sensation, this time she turned to her right and her heart nearly stopped when she saw Ben kneeling next to her. Rey knew what a Force Ghost was, after all she had spoken to Luke on Ahch-To but...Ben was different, there wasn't any blue aura surrounding him and he wasn't transparent, he looked so _alive_. Was he an hallucination then? Was she so broken for his loss that her mind was making her see him in the exact same clothes he had on Exegol but free of any wound?  
“You're not real, it's just my mind messing up with me” she whispered, not sure why she was talking to an hallucination.  
  
“Would it make feel you better if I wasn't real?” he asked, he sounded so sad and he was avoiding her gaze.  
  
“I don't know” what would make her feel better? Knowing that Ben wasn't actually there and it was just her imagination or that he was real? Maybe neither of the two, the only thing that would make her feel better was having him back with her.  
  
“Why are you here Rey? You should be celebrating with your friends”  
  
“I need to be alone for a while” it was ironic for her to say that, just the year before she'd told Ben she was feeling lonelier than ever and he'd reassured her she wasn't. “No one would understand how I feel and you know that”  
  
“ _You're not alone_ , there are people who care about you and one day they'll understand” Ben's voice was so soft but at the same time full of sadness.  
  
“Don't say that” she replied “You once told me I wasn't alone yet today you left me anyway!” Rey didn't mean to raise her voice and yell at him, but a part of her was angry with Ben because the only person who'd truly ever listened to her, who'd gotten to see who she really was and had understood her had just left her alone. And she knew that empty void would never be filled, not without _him_ , and that she would never love anyone else, she couldn't even imagine _falling in love_ with anyone who wasn't him.

“I'm so sorry Rey, the last thing I wanted was making you suffer” he softly said resting his hand on her cheek, but she couldn't feel his touch. “But I did what I had to do and I don't regret giving my life to you”

“It wasn't supposed to end like this, it's not fair” she tried to hold the tears back, she didn't want him to see her crying because it would only make things worse for both of them. The vision she'd had when their hands had touched showed that things weren't meant to end that way, that Ben didn't have to die and she didn't have to live the rest of her life without him.

“I know _sweetheart,_ but I ruined everything and there was no other way”

“You never called me that way before” Rey replied giving him a sad smile.

“I never had the chance” and then just as he'd appeared he vanished leaving her alone, again.

She realized she'd started crying again, suppressing her pain wouldn't make her feel better and she didn't care if pain would lead her to the darkness, she didn't care about light or darkness anymore. She wiped the tears away with the back of her hand and she started digging a hole in the sand with her bare hands, she was used to sand and it didn't bother her.  
The hole wasn't too deep but it was enough, Rey put the lightsabers in it and covered them with the sand so no one would ever find them. She slowly rose and she stared at the binary sunset for a moment, what would she do now? Then she remembered that the wayfinder was still plugged to the x-wing navicomputer, that thing was useless now but it was still dangerous so she had to destroy it.

“Hello!” someone said and she turned, an old lady in a dress with the hood pulled up was standing there as if she'd appeared out of nowhere “There's been no one here for so long, who are you?” she asked nicely, Rey could tell she was curious and by the way she was looking at the ruined house behind her she could tell it was familiar to that woman.

“I'm Rey”

“Are you Luke Skywalker's _daughter_? He used to live here and I knew him” that question caught her off guard and she hadn't expected to run into someone from Luke's old life.

“No, I was just...his apprentice” Rey wasn't sure how much people on Tatooine knew what had happened to him, on Jakku he was considered a myth and there were many stories about him.

“I see, so you're Leia and Han Solo's child?” so that woman knew “Many years ago I heard he became a Jedi master to train his nephew and other children” apparenlty people on Tatooine knew a lot of things that only people who lived in the Core Worlds or Mid Rim would know.

“What? No, they had a son...he was my...” it was too much for her to talk about Ben using the past, it was too soon and what was she going to say? What was him to her?

“Oh, now I understand” the old lady said looking at her with a sympathetic gaze “I'm sorry for all those question, I should've understood earlier you were mourning your _husband_ ” at that point Rey didn't know what else to say, if the weird lady wanted to believe that she would've let her believe it, after all she didn't want to tell a stranger their whole story or who he'd become.

“It's okay, you didn't know” she said politely “It's just happened...”

“If you need anything I can host you for a while, you look very tired” only then she realized she was still wearing dusty and torn clothes, she hadn't even treated her wounds knowing they weren't serious injuries. It was very nice of the lady to offer her a place to stay, but she had never planned on staying there and she wanted to leave that place soon because it remined her too much of Jakku.

“I appreciate it, but I have somewhere else to go” even though Rey didn't know exactly where.

“Be careful Rey _Solo_ ” it was so weird being called that way, she wasn't a Solo or a Skywalker and even if she'd find out the truth about her family she considered herself just Rey until that moment because it was enough “And remember, _love_ is the most powerful force in the galaxy”

“I...won't forget it, I gotta go now, goodbye and thank you”

“Goodbye my dear, and be patient” Rey didn't understand what that woman meant but she nodded and then turned her back to her to go back to the x-wing. A few steps later she looked back to see if the old lady was still there but she'd disappeared just like Ben, was she another Force ghost or something like that? And why had she stold her to be patient?  
Once Rey got back to the x-wing she unplugged the wayfinder from the navicomputer and she put it in the sand, she took a few steps back, ashe closed her eyes and stretched out her right hand. She tried to remember how she'd felt on Pasaana just before that lightning bursted out of her hand, she had been feeling angry at evrything, mostly at herself and Ben. But now she was _angry_ at the Jedi and at the Emperor, all of them wanted to make her ther own vessel and the only choice for her had been choosing who would've used her. And how had she been rewarded? She'd lost the person she secretely loved, for a whole year she'd tried to hate him with all her heart but she'd failed, so she'd tried at least not to think aboout him and she'd unconsciously blocked their bond. Now she regretted it, if she hadn't blocked Ben out they would've had _more time_ together and things would've been different, maybe he would be still alive.  
Rey focused on those emotions: pain, anger and regret, allowing herself to feel them and not suppressing them like the Jedi did. She felt electricity crackling between her fingers and a sense of tingling before she heard the loud sound of the lightning. When Rey opened her eyes there were pieces of the wayfinder scattered everywhere and where once it had been now there was crystallised sand.  
There wasn't anything else for her on Tatooine, it was time to leave and she might have a place in mind, a place where everything had changed for her.

* * *

It had started raining again, it had been raining since Rey had arrived on Ahch-To three days earlier. She hurried to reach the Falcon even though she was already soaked, before she'd left Tatooine she'd contacted Chewbacca and told him to meet her there to bring her stuff, making him swear not to tell anything to the others. The wookiee had promised her he wouldn't have told anything only if she'd provided him an explanation since he'd heard the message she'd sent to her friends. Rey hadn't been sure why she'd felt the pull to Ahch-To again, but something inside her had told her she _had_ to go there, so she'd simply told Chewbacca it was about Jedi stuff and she didn't know how long it would've taken.  
The wookiee had shown up in less than a standard hour with the Falcon, he'd hugged her and had checked if she was fine since she was wounded. He'd asked abut Ben and she'd been surprised by the fact he'd called him Ben and not Kylo, it had been too much for her and she'd started crying again. She'd never considered crying a sign of weakness, in fact she'd always believed it was the most human thing and that it would require strenght to show that humanity to someone else. The wookiee had understood what had happened and had hugged her tighter making a low and sad cry, Chewbacca was the only that could understand since he was part of Ben's family.  
When Rey had asked Chewbacca to give her the bag with all her things and her staff to put them in the x-wing but the wookiee refused by saying that he wouldn't allow to travel to Ahch-To in that “piece of junk”. He had insisted that she would take the Falcon, she could've left him on Kashyyyk before getting to the island, she hadn't wanted to accept because she knew how much the ship meant to Chewbacca but he hadn't accepted a “no” as an answer.  
So Rey was now on the island again and no idea of what she was looking for, she'd been on her way to the temple when it had started raining again so she'd decided to go back to the ship – which was her _home_ now – since she wanted to avoid the Lanai. The guardians of the island hadn't seemed too happy to see her again, maybe they still remembered the hole in the wall or the rock she'd cut while practising with her lightsabers and it almost hit two Lanai in the head. However they provided her food, water and they'd even a agreed to give her a sewing kit when Rey had asked for it to fix the hole on Ben's shirt.  
She lowered the boarding ramp and ran inside the Falcon, she was so soaked that her clothes were dripping and a puddle was forming where she was standing.

“Stupid rain” she muttered, she quite liked the rain but that almost a storm with strong wind and loud thunders, if she'd walked under all that rain she would've gotten sick. She headed to the captain's quarters, it was where she slept now and she spent most of her time there studying the sacred Jedi texts even though she hadn't figured out yet what she was looking for. What if she'd gone there for nothing? What if that something that suggested her to go there had been actually her grief? Maybe a part of her just wanted to be isolated from the rest of the galaxy.  
Rey wasn't sure of anything anymore, or almost, the only thing she was sure of was that she missed Ben with all her heart. She barely slept at night because everytime she closed her eyes she kept seeing him disappearing but she was getting tired and she knew she had to get some sleep. _Why didn't he show up again?_ She thought, she wanted to see him, she wanted to talk to him but above all she wished he came back to her – which she knew it was impossible –  
She entered her quarters and grabbed a towel she'd left on the bed that mornint, she'd used it to dry her hair after she'd taken a shower and she'd left it there. The rain pounded on ship's roof, it was the only sound that was keeping Rey a little bit of company, but after fifteen years alone on Jakku she was used at not talking to anyone and all that silence.  
It took her a while to dry her hair again, once she finished she took her boots off and changed her wet clothes in Ben's shirt, which she used as nightshirt since it was too long and large for her to fit like a regular shirt. Rey had sewed the hole she'd made when she'd stabbed him on the Death Star wreckage and she had to wash the shirt because it was dirty with dust and even a little bit of blood. That was the only way to feel him closer, as if somehow she was still in his arms, it was crazy thinking that it had only happened three days earlier and that their story had ended even before starting. Rey had truly believed that they could go back home together and be free to love each other.  
She couldn't help but think about the vision she'd had when they'd touched hands a year before as she lied down on the bed, what had gone wrong? She had been so sure that her vision would come true, even after what had happened on Crait because the first part of it had already turned out to be true.  
Rey closed her eyes, took a deep breath and focused to see again what she'd seen in that vision, she needed to understand because maybe she had misinterpreted it.

_Supreme Leader Snoke was on his throne, or at least what was left of him, Rey got up and she exchanged a look with Ben before they started fighting together against the guards.  
_ _They were on a dusty and dark planet, which now Rey knew was Exegol, both she and Ben were wielding blue lightsabers against their enemy.  
_ _Now they were on a fancy terrace and Ben's arm was around her waist while she was resting her head on his shoulder, from there she could see a lake and she was wearing a sleeveless long dress in white and light blue shade.  
_ _Lastly Rey saw herself holding a dark haired baby wrapped in a white blanket, she didn't konw if it was a little boy or a little girl, and she was so happy with Ben sitting next to her with an arm around her shoulders and smiling at their baby._

The last part of th vision was the most painful now, it was the life she would never have, that both of them would never have. She'd always dreamed of a _family_ and she'd always wanted one, Rey tried to hold her tears back but she failed, she had cried enough for the past three days and she thought she'd released all of her pain, clearly she was wrong. Why had the Force shown her a future that would never exist? Why had she seen that happy life if she couldn't have it?  
Rey sat up sobbing, the first two parts of the vision had played out exactly as she'd seen but then what had changed? There must've been a specific event or choice that had distorted everything.  
  
“I hate see you crying” said a voice next to her, she'd been so lost in her own thoughts that she hadn't noticed that Ben had appeared next to her.

“I wish you were actually here...I miss you so much” she said, she still didn't know why he didn't look like the other Force ghosts, was that because they were a dyad? "And I hate crying this much" she added, she hated it because she knew that her pain wouldn't go away even if she'd cry for the rest of her life and she hated that she couldn't do anything about it. That kind of pain was different from what she'd felt all those years on Jakku because at least she'd had the _illusion_ that her parents would come back for her, this time she knew Ben couldn't come back.  
  
“I don't want to see you like this because of me, I don't deserve it and neither do you” he said as brought his hand to her cheek and wiped her tears away but she didn't feel his touch neither his warmth, she couldn't even feel his presence as once she used to. That only made things worse so she drew away because she couldn't bear that absence of feeling him, he lowered his hand and moved to put a little bit of distance between them.

“Sorry, I shouldn't have done that” he apologized “I just thought...” but then he didn't finish that sentence.  
  
“It's not that...I _can't feel_ you Ben” she explained “I can't feel your presence anymore and I can't feel your touch” he looked at her confused as if she'd spoken a language he couldn't understand, what was he thinking? She couldn't read his emotions anymore as once she did.  
  
“But I _can_ ” he finally said “I can feel your skin, I can feel your force signature and I can feel your emotions” that was weird, but considered they were a dyad Rey wasn't sure what was normal or not for them.  
  
“Do you think it's because of our bond?” she asked him.  
  
“I do, you're the one still alive so it makes sense I can still feel you”  
  
“But you're not...” she couldn't even say that he wasn't alive anymore “Ghosts shouldn't feel anything”  
  
“I'm not a ghost Rey” he replied before vanishing just like he'd done on Exegol, what did he mean by saying he wasn't a ghost? Did he know something he didn't want to tell her?

* * *

After a week on Ahch-To Rey still hoped that mediating at the temple could provide her an answer, she was sitting cross-legged and her eyes closed where she'd had her first lesson with Luke, trying to focus just like her masters taught her.  
“Please give me a sign” she whispered to no one, she wanted to understand why a couple of days earlier Ben had told her he wasn't a ghost and she didn't find anything about Force ghosts in the Jedi texts.  
Rey was more than sure that she was right where she was supposed to be and that it had something to do with the whole dyad thing, but she couldn't figure out how the two things were connected.  
  
_“So now you're the one on self-exile?”_ a voice came from behind her and it was the last person she wanted to talk to.  
  
“I'm not hiding here, I'm looking for answers” she coldly replied without turning back, she didn't want to face Luke because in the past days she'd come up with a conclusion: he knew that using Leia's lightsaber would fulfil her vision and would lead to Ben's death “You knew Ben was going to die because of _me_ and you didn't tell me!”  
  
_“If I told you would have you headed to Exegol and do what it was needed to be done?”_ Luke asked her almost annoyed, maybe he already knew her answer.  
  
“I would've told Ben not to come there, being both there only gave the Emperor an advantage he wouldn't have had if I had faced him alone” that was the reason she'd died, she was already weak when the Emperor had drained them of their power and that was what had killed her. When she'd regained consciousness she had been aware she was dying and that was the only reason she'd chosen to be the Jedi vessel.  
  
_“Then the Emperor would've won and you would've been his vessel, Ben had to be there_ _for you_ ” he stated _“Sometimes we have to make sacrifices and make difficult choices, it's the way of the Jedi”  
_  
“We had no choice, we were just tools”  
  
_“You are the last Jedi, you gave your life to save the galaxy and Ben gave his because the galaxy needs you”  
_  
“I'm not a Jedi” she simply said “And I don't care about the galaxy anymore, what has it done for me all those years starving in a desert? Nothing, but I saved it anyway because it was the right thing to do” Rey could barely believe she'd actually said those things, but she really thought them and maybe her pain had fomented those thoughts.  
  
_“Careful Rey, this could lead you to the Dark Side, don't let your emotions get the better of you”_ silence fell, Rey was sure Luke had disappeared and she felt as if someone had took a burden off her chest away.  
She didn't care about Light Side or Dark Side anymore because she knew they were both in her nature, she'd had a proof on Pasaana and then on Kef Bir, that was what made her and Ben so alike.  
Rey focused again taking deep breaths, she focused on life and death, on light and darkness, on day and night.

_It was a dark place, or what seemed to be a place, it loooked like an endless black sky full of stars and there a lot of paths with white borders. Each path led to strange white circles that looked like doors...no, not doors, portals. What was that place? It looked so familiar to Rey, as if she'd seen it before...and then she remembered, she had seen it when she was dying and the Jedi had spoken to her.  
Wandering on one of those paths there was a tall figure, dressed in black, just like the last time she'd seen him.  
“Ben!” she exclaimed, but he didn't turn around, maybe he couldn't even hear her._

When Rey opened her eyes she was breathing heavily, she knew that place she'd seen in her vision but she didn't know the name or where it was. She was aware she didn't have to rely on that vision because visions didn't always become true, but for the first time in a week she felt a spark of hope.  
That place was real so what if Ben had ended up here because of their bond? A part of him still lived inside her, so he kinda was still linked to the living world because of her, maybe that was why he could touch her and feel her. Did he know what that place was and was that why he'd told her he wasn't a ghost?  
Too many questions and too little answers, Rey got up and walked away, she had some researches to do in those ancient books she'd started studying months before when she had repaired Luke's lightsaber.

* * *

  
  


It took Rey a whole month to finally find something useful, she was sitting on her bed wearing Ben's shirt and she had a blanket over her legs. The _Rammaghon_ was the most extended book amongs the Jedi texts so Rey had started from there, luckily for her Luke had spent years translating some parts of it, there were other parts she didn't understand but she'd had a little help from Ben.  
Apparently he was able to show up only when she really needed him and for a short time, when she'd asked him how did he know he wasn't a ghost he'd hesitated a little bit but then he'd told her knew he was stuck in a place he didn't know. When she'd asked Ben to describe it she hadn't been surprised when he'd described the exact same place she'd seen, however he didn't know why he kept appearing to her only when she needed him by her side, he'd told her he wasn't controlling it. That was everything Rey had discovered so far, but thanks to that description she finally found what she needed.  
The pages Rey was now reading were filled with schemes and illustrations, she spot “ _Ahch-To_ ” and “ _Exegol_ ” in the paragraph about “ _vergences in the Force_ ” and she began to read it. The so called vergences were places where the Force was stronger and both the Jedi and the Sith believed they were a kind of nexus to a dimension where past, present and future existed at the same time.  
The next paragraph was entitled “ _The world between worlds_ ”, there was a simple illustration and Rey nearly lost her grip on the book when she recognized the shape of the portals she'd seen. That was the dimension mentioned in the previous paragraph but in addition there was a description of the portals, each portal led to a specific moment of the past, the present and the future. If someone from that dimension went through a portal that person could alter the events, making things happening or preventing them from happening but some events couldn't be changed otherwise it would destroy the whole timeline..  
It was definitely the right place, but how had Ben ended up there and why? Did he have to change a past event?  
She hoped to find more information but the rest of the pages were written in a language she didn't understand, there was also an illustration about suns and moon phases and she couldn't figure out what it was  
This time Rey saw him appearing, he was lying next to her and she couldn't help but smiling a little bit.  
  
“You're late” she joked, she was getting used at seeing him appearing out of nowhere and even if she couldn't feel him she was actually glad he was there.  
  
“Well, tell it to the Force sweetheart” he replied sarcastic, Rey was discovering a side of him she'd already glimpsed in a few occasions during their force bonds and she really liked it. She had to suppress the impulse to lean forward and kiss him, she still thought about their first kiss and she still remembered how soft his lips were. If, _no, when,_ she found the key to get him back she would make sure to kiss him a lot and tell him she loved him everyday, although she hadn't told him yet.  
  
“I doubt it will listen, it never does”  
  
“You're right, I never _asked_ to meet such a stubborn woman” he joked and even if she couldn't feel his touch she hit him on his arm “Ow” he muttered.  
  
“This stubborn woman may have just found something useful to get you back” she said a little bit proud of herself and pointing the page she was reading “I know where you are”  
  
“Rey...we already talked about it, even if you know where I am there's no guarantee you can get me out” Ben said sitting up, they'd already had that conversation a week earlier and she was aware that there was only a small chance to have him back. They'd also discussed about potential risks, actually they had fought again and she had yelled at him because he had insisted he wasn't worth the effort and asked her to move on.  
  
“And you already know what I think about it, there's no way I'm going to give up on you and I don't care how long it will take” she stated.  
  
“It's not fair that you give up your future either” he said moving a lock of her hair away from her face.  
  
“I'm not...” she hadn't told him about what she'd seen the year before and she didn't want to give him the impression she was doing that just because of a vision. She truly wanted to be with him because he knew and understood in a way no one else did, he knew her fears, he knew her loneliness, he'd seen her dark side and he'd accepted it without fearing it. He'd always accepted her for who she was and not because she was the supposed last Jedi, also he didn't care she was related to the monster who'd ruined his life and made his family suffer for three generations.  
  
“What is that you're not telling me?” he asked, she'd forgotten he could still feel her emotions, if she'd lied he would've sensed it and she didn't want to lie to him.  
  
“Do you remember when last year we had that vision?” she asked him, he'd never told her what he'd seen except he'd seen her parents and that she would be by his side.  
  
“I couldn't forget it” he simply said.  
  
“I haven't told you everything I saw, I told you a saw you turning and that was true...but I also saw our future” Rey took a deep breath before telling him the details “I saw us together, it was an elegant place and there was a even a lake, but I don't know where it is...and that's not everything” she said avoiding to meet his gaze, she didn't want him to see she was about to cry again.  
  
“It's okay, you don't have to tell me if it's too bad and painful” he reassured her.  
  
“You don't understand...it's painful only because it was something beautiful...we were a family Ben and we were so _happy_ ”  
  
“You and me...a _family_?” Ben sounded so surprised but when she looked at him she noticed he was as heartbroken as her and she just nodded.  
  
“So don't you ever think I'm giving up my future because it had already been taken away from me”  
  
“From us” he corrected her just before disappearing.

* * *

A year had passed since Rey had started translating and interpreting those pages about the world between worlds, Ben had helped her but they never had more than a couple minutes, the longest “bond” had lasted only twenty minutes and there were a few words he couldn't remeber. During that year she'd finally felt ready to talk to her friends and she'd called to pologize for disappearing the way she had and she'd explained she wanted to be alone because she was mourning someone she'd lost. At first her friends had thought it was Leia since she'd been her mentor and almost a mother figure for her, but Rose had been the one who'd pointed out they were wrong.  
So Rey had confessed who it was, she wasn't ashamed of her feelings and she'd chosen not to hide them anymore, not even to her friends. As she'd expected they hadn't reacted well, they'd told her that she was confusing compassion with _love_ , that there was no way she could love such a _monster_ and that she didn't even know him.  
She'd tried to explain that she was the only one who truly knew him but they'd given her the chance except for Rose, she'd been the only one who hadn't left the communication room at the Resistance base. She'd been the one who'd asked her what had happened between her and their former enemy and how she was doing.  
Since that day Rey had been in touch with Rose and sometimes even Chewbacca called her from Kashyyyk, he'd finally reunited with his tribe and he was living a peaceful life among the trees of the jungle. He'd told her that the Falcon was now hers and asked about her "Jedi stuff" so she'd told him the truth too. The wookiee had reacted quite well, he didn't hate Ben anymore for killing Han but he was very surprised in finding out that Rey loved him because she'd always given him the impression she didn't care about him. Maybe that was why her friends hadn't believed her and it was all her fault because for a whole year she'd hidden her feelings for him, whenever they'd talked about the Supreme Leader she'd always acted indifferent.  
On the other hand _something_ was happening in the world between worlds, Ben had told her someone was guiding him but he couldn't see who it was, he only knew it was a woman. The woman's voice had told him he didn't have to interfere with his own past and neither with Rey's because he wasn't there for that, he was there because he had to learn about his family's past and from his mistakes. The voice also told him that once he'd learned and understood he would be able to forgive himself for what he'd done because that was the first step to get other people's forgiveness.  
Rey immediately had thought about her friends and whoever knew Kylo's true identity, luckily there weren't many people who knew it. The biggest problem would be her friends, especially Finn who would be more than glad to deliver him to the Republic they were restoring but Rey wanted to deal with one problem at time.  
She'd just woken up from a nightmare, the same one, the same nightmare that haunted her for a whole year. She kept seeing Ben drying but in different ways and all because of her, the worst one was the one in which she'd become the Emperor's vessel and she killed him with _his mother's_ lightsaber.  
She calmed herself down taking deep breaths, she was sweating despite the cold of the night and her heart was beating fast.  
"It's just another nightmare" she told herself as she sat up, she knew it never happened but it was so vivid that felt true and the reason it felt so true was because she'd actually stabbed him to death on the Death Star wreckage, something she was very ashamed of.  
Sometimes when she had nightmares Ben would show up and comfort her, telling her it wasn't her fault and that he'd made his choice. So now she was waiting, even if she was aware he didn't always show up but she hoped so because she needed him right in that moment. It was at night Rey missed him the most because it was the only time of the day she wasn't busy studying the texts, taking a walk outside and eating in company of the Lanai - who now tolerated her presence -  
She felt like she was on Jakku again, all those lonely nights when she couldn't sleep because she missed her parents and had those strange dreams about the island, a man in a mask and a dark cloak and a voice promising her that one day would come back for her.  
As she calmed down she lied down again, maybe that night Ben wouldn't show up but she wasn't sad about it because she knew he couldn't control it.  
Rey turned over her other side, knowing she wouldn't fall asleep again so easily.  
  
"Another nightmare?" Ben's soft voice came from behind her near her ear, she turned the lamp near her bed on and she noticed his arm around her waist, he was hugging her from behind but she couldn't feel it and she _hated_ it. She'd gotten used to that but it was so frustrating not being able to feel him at all, in those sleepless nights she would've liked to feel _safe_ in his arms.  
  
"The usual and I know it's not real, but it's still awful seeing myself…killing you" she whispered then she slowly turned so she could be face to face with him.  
  
"I know you'd never do that" he reassured her.  
  
"You're lying and you know it, I nearly killed you a year ago"  
  
"It wasn't you, you were under the influence of the Dark Side and I know how it feels like"  
  
“You've always been the only one who understands me” she said giving him a faint smile.  
  
“And you're the only one who saw me for who I _really_ am, even when I didn't see it” then he did something Rey wasn't expecting at all and kissed her, they'd always avoided to do that because it hurt her so much having him so close yet so out of her reach but in that moment she almost forgot and kissed him back. She recalled how she felt kissing him for the first time but it wasn't the same so she drew back.  
  
“I'm sorry...but this can't happen now” she apologized.  
  
“I should be the one apologizing, it was quite selfish of me” he put a little bit of distance between them and he freed her from his embrace although it wasn't necessary, sometimes he still held on when it came about physical contact.  
  
“No, it wasn't...can I ask you a favour?”  
  
“Anything sweetheart”  
  
“Can you hold me until I fall asleep again?” Rey knew it wouldn't make any difference but maybe knowing Ben was there it would help her a little bit.  
  
“Sure” he replied smiling at her “And I promise I'll hold you _every night_ when I come back”  
  
“I like this promise”

The next morning Rey woke up alone, she wasn't tired and she'd slept the whole night for the first time since a long time. She wondered if the night before had been a dream or if she'd really fallen asleep in Ben's arms as if they were a normal couple. The truth was she didn't know how to define their unusual relationship, they were in love even if none of them had said the famous three words yet, but were they a couple if he was trapped in another dimension? Then Rey thought that she didn't care what they were because the only thing that truly mattered was the fact they loved each other and neither time or space could change that.  
Now Rey understood what that weird lady on Tatooine had meant by telling her that love was the most powerful thing in the galaxy, it was only her love for Ben and her determination that was keeping her on that island to find the key to access the world between worlds from there and bring him back. So the first thing she did was getting up from her bed and retrieve the Rammaghon from one of the two chests in her quarters, one was still full of Han and Leia's old things and she hadn't touched anything from there because she wanted to keep those things in their memory. The other was had once been empty and she'd filled it with her own stuff, during that year the Lanai had provided her more appropriate clothes for that moist weather so now Rey had more clothes than she'd ever had in twenty-one years.  
Among her clothes there were the books, the Rammaghon was filled of sheets of paper with the translations she and Ben had made, luckily for them the Lanai used to write in the old way so they had ink, pens and sheets of paper and they hadn't even asked her why she needed that. In fact the guardians of the island seemed to know exactly why she was there and what she needed, but that was all the help she'd gotten from them so far.  
Rey took the book and sat cross-legged on the bed, she pulled a sheet of paper from the pages, it was a translation she and Ben had been working on a couple of days earlier but they hadn't had the time to analyze it so she wanted to try to figure it out by herself, the lines were simple and looked like some kind of a prophecy

_First comes the day  
Then comes the night.  
After the darkness  
Shines trough the light.  
But one day the other  
Appears within the other  
Lost in the dark of the night  
Waiting for its light  
To finally meet_

  
  


It was clearly about the two sides of the Force, however the last sentence was quite familiar so Rey thought about it until she remembered where she'd heard it.

“ _Darkness rises and light to meet it”_

Snoke had once said that about she and Ben, he'd said she was his equal in the light so that made Ben her equal in the darkness. Rey read the whole prophecy again and then she understood: it wasn't just about the two sides of the Force, it was about them too!  
They were meant to find each other again, but how? She read the second part again _'but one day the other appears within the other'_ how could light exist in the Dark Side or the other way around? Then an idea crossed her mind, maybe it wasn't a metaphor, the light could be the suns and the darkness the moon so that meant...  
“It's an eclipse!” she said out loud even if she was alone.

  
  


* * *

  
  


Unfortunately that eclipse only happened three years later after that discovery, so until then Rey had just waited and kept translating those texts with Ben's help. Together they'd managed to understand the meaning of the prophecy, thanks to those schemes about lunar phases Rey'd found in the book and that had been how they'd calculated when the next eclipse would happen. But to be sure Rey had also tried to ask to the Lanai showing them the schemes and by her surprise they'd actually helped her by confirming that she had to wait that long.  
Waiting had never been a problem for Rey, she'd waited for her parents for fourteen years without any guarantee and she'd never given up, so she would've waited for Ben too.  
Then they'd delved more into the world between worlds paragraphs, they'd found more evidence that Ahch-To had an access to that dimension due the fact it was on a vergence in the Force, so if everything was correct the access would open only during a double eclipse, when the suns and the moon would align.  
During those years Rey had learnt a lot of things, including something about the dyad, something so rare that many considered it just a myth. So it had been written as a legend, which not belonged only to the Jedi but also to the Sith and that was why the orders had tried to forge them in different way, but they'd always failed because a dyad couldn't be created. The two individuals who shared that connection were bound since their birth, even if they hadn't been born the same year like she and Ben. That connection couldn't be broken not even by death, it only could be weakened if the two part of the dyad felt negative feelings for each other.  
It had been during that three years that Rey and Ben had gotten the chance to know each other even better than before, they'd shared stories about their respective childhoods and their dreams. Rey had found out that he wanted to become a pilot like his father because he'd never been interested in politics or the Jedi, he just wanted a normal life and see the galaxy. Even if Ben already knew about her waiting for her parents she'd told him about the scratches on the wall to keep track of time, something she'd started doing again to count the days until they would be able to be together again, however this time she'd only been tracing lines on sheets of paper because she didn't want to ruin the Falcon walls. She told him about her wanting to be loved by her parents and be with them again and her desire to find her belonging when a part of her had understood that her parents would never come back.  
One night Rey had finally told Ben she loved him, catching him by surprise and to make sure he'd understood she'd told him again, that was the time she'd seen his beautiful smile again, the same smile he had on the day she'd lost him. Meanwhile she'd gotten used to the fact she couldn't feel him so it nearly hadn't hurt anymore when he embraced her or sometimes he kissed her forehead.  
Her friends had started talking to her again and in the end they'd accepted that Rey truly loved Ben and they couldn't do anything about it, that was mainly due to the fact that Finn and Poe were in a relationship so they could understand that no one got to choose who to fall in love with. Rose had started a political career, she had started as a minister but she was a Senator now and she still was providing help to all those people affected by the war with the help from Finn and Poe, who were still Generals.  
Chewbacca had now a family and he'd become even a father of two children, when she'd heard the message he'd sent her she almost hadn't believed it because it was unexpected. The wookiee had always been famous for being good at ripping his enemies arms so it had been weird learning that he was a father, maybe one day his children would rip someone's arms too or maybe they would be pilots.  
So Rey was the only one who still hadn't moved on but she was glad she hadn't done it because she was doing it for the family she wanted to have with Ben. They'd talked about it many times, she would've never decided for him and she would've never forced him to do something he didn't want. At first he hadn't been so sure because he still thought he was a terrible person but thanks to his journey in the world between worlds he'd slowly changed his mind.  
It was night and Rey was once again waiting in front of that strange mirror in the cave, she'd been there every night since the beginning of that year waiting for the eclipse. She and Ben had only managed to calculate the year but not the day because they didn't have the right tools to do it, they'd used only Luke's compass and the schemes to make those calculations.  
It was a windy night but sky was clear without any clouds on sight and moon shone high, Rey was wearing a long sleeved grey tunic, her belt, a pair of black leggings, her usual boots and her long hair was down.  
She was soaked since she'd crossed the lake to reach the mirror and she was shivering but she didn't care, she'd the feeling that it was the right night and that the portal would open right in front of her.  
“Please let me be with him again” she whispered to no one in particular and putting her hand on the crystalline surface enlightened by the moonlight. Since that conversation with Luke four years earlier he hadn't appeared again and neither the other Jedi had, maybe it was because she'd rejected them and declared she wasn't one of them or maybe because they were simply mad at her.  
The moonlight began to darken but Rey knew it wasn't any cloud because that night the sky was clear, _it was finally happening!  
_As the moonlight darkned and turned into a shade of orange the mirror's surface felt less solid under her hand, as if it was melting like ice and Rey's heart started beating faster.  
Now everything was enlightened by an orange light and the mirror had gone, in its place there was only a black circular hole, the same portal she'd seen in her vision. Without any hesitation she walked in, it was all dark but she kept walking until she found herself on the other side and just like in her vision there were a lot of paths and portals but where did Ben was? She didn't see him anywhere but she suddenly realized she could _feel_ him again so he had to be near.  
Rey considered the idea of walking away from the portal and go find him but she wasn't sure she couldn't find the right path again, so what did she have to now? She started panicking thinking about what could happen if he didn't find her on time, would they both be trapped there? No, that couldn't happen, he would find her and they would walk out that dimension together.  
She didn't know how much time she'd been waiting, she only knew she felt Ben closer now and she started looking around, she spotted him on a path on her left.  
  
“You're late!” she yelled to let him know she was there, he turned to her direction and he smiled at her.  
  
“You arrived early!” he yelled back, then he started walking faster to reach her and Rey couldn't help but laugh, it was the first time in years she actually laughed because she was happy.  
  
When they finally were on the same path Rey ran straight into his arms and he caught her just in time to avoid them falling on the floor or whatever it was. Her eyes filled with tears of joy as she finally felt his arms holding her, his warmth and his scent, everything about him was still the same, even his clothes, and he hadn't even aged since time didn't exist there  
  
“I missed you so much!” she exclaimed burying her face into his shirt unconcerned about spilling it with her tears as he held her closer and placed a kiss on her hair, although he'd always been with her all those years it wasn't the same that being in the same place and feel his comforting presence.  
  
“I missed you too sweetheart” and when she lifted her gaze to meet his eyes she noticed he was crying too.  
  
“You're crying” she pointed out laughing, she was feeling all at once in that moment and she didn't know how to react.  
  
“You're crying too” he replied softly taking her face in his hands “You really waited all these years for _me_ ” he sounded so surprised that she hadn't given up on him although years before she'd told him she wouldn't have done it.

"I know everything about waiting" she said smiling right before kissing him, she'd waited four years to do that and suddenly she couldn't keep waiting anymore, she _needed_ to kiss him, to touch him and telling she loved him. His lips were even softer than she remembered and there was a certain urgency as they deepened the kiss, it was so frenetic and _hungry._

"We should go" Ben whispered on her lips before kissing her one last time, he was right and they had to go because the portal could close at any time trapping them there.  
  
Rey reluctantly pulled away from him, almost breathless and she was sure her cheeks was just as red as Ben's, who still had his hands on her face.  
  
_“I see both of you listened to my advices”_ a voice said almost making her jump, it was vaguely familiar to Rey and she was making an effort to remember where and when she'd heard it _“I told you love is the most powerful force once, my dear Rey and I'm glad you haven't forgotten”_ and then she remembered: the voice belonged to the woman she'd met on Tatooine four years before _“And you young Solo, you've finally forgiven yourself, letting the past go and now your future awaits you”  
_  
“Who are you?” Rey asked out of curiosity _.  
_  
_“I am the Balance and it is my job to preserve it, that's why I forge dyads when balance is needed the most and that's why you cannot be separated, you both need to be alive or balance will be broken because you're both Light and Dark. There's always a little bit of light in the dark and a little bit of dark in the light, that's balance and you're the incarnation of it in the material world. Now go and live the life you both deserve”_ the voice concluded, under other circumstances Rey would've had a lot of questions about their bond and if the reason the Force had been unbalanced for so long was that because the other dyads hadn't managed to reunite, but right that moment the only thing she could think about was getting out of there.  
  
“I think she's gone” Ben said taking her by the hand “She's the voice that guided me her and sent me to you when you needed me”  
  
“She's also the woman I met on Tatooine” Rey had told him about that strange meeting, except the part about her being a widow mourning her dead husband because it was too weird “Let's go now, the portal might close at any time”  
  
Together they walked through the portal and when they found themselves in the cave it was still enlightened by the orange light so Rey supposed she hadn't been away too long. She looked at Ben, who was still holding her hand, he was looking around quite confused and even if she could feel his emotions again she couldn't even imagine how strange that situation was to him.  
  
“Are you okay?” she asked squeezing his hand, he just nodded and then he pulled her in a hug despite the fact she was still soaked, making her forget how cold that night was.  
  
She closed her eyes as she clung tighter to him and for the first time in her life Rey felt at _home,_ it was such a wonderful feeling that for a moment she was afraid it was all a dream and that she would wake up from a moment to another.  
  
“Don't you dare to ever leave me _again_ ” she whispered.  
  
“Is this a threat? And besides you won't get rid me of me that easily this time” he joked, she couldn't help but laugh and Ben started laughing too, it was so beautiful hearing him laugh after all he'd been through and she was glad she was the one who was making him laugh.  
  
The wind was getting colder and Rey shivered despite being in Ben's arms, who held her tighter and placed another kiss on her hair.  
  
“Maybe it's better if we go back to the Falcon, it's getting to cold” he suggested, but the only way to get out of the cave was crossing the lake again and then following a path that led outside.  
  
“Well, I have bad news for you” she said opening her eyes and lifting her gaze to look at him “We have to cross the lake”  
  
“I suspected you might say that”

The moonlight was going back to its normal colour so the portal behind them was beginning to close again, it was like seeing a water surface freezing slowly. The water was even colder than it was when she'd crossed it a couple of hours earlier, Rey saw Ben shiver too as they entered the lake, luckily it wasn't that deep so the water didn't reach her shoulders.  
They climbed out of the water, this time she was the one taking his hand and led him along the narrow path that led outside the cave, it was quite funny to see Ben bending down because the ceiling in that point was lower and he was too tall so she had to let his hand go. Rey tried not to laugh watching that scene, now that they were actually together she felt lighter and so full of joy that she wanted both to laugh and to cry at the same time.  
  
“I know you find this funny” he said from behind her.  
  
“That's not true!”  
  
“It is, I know you _better_ than I know myself” that was also true but it was the same for her, they knew each other in a way no one else could ever understand and it wasn't only because of their bond. It was because of the shared _loneliness_ , pain but also the same _hopes_ , the same longing for someone who loved them. They'd found that someone in each other in the most unexpected way but in the end Rey wouldn't change a thing of how they'd met because she wasn't sure if they would've met under different circumstances.


	2. Part 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry but this is longer than the first part, and please read the tags because this is the part where things becomes a little bit spicy.  
> Also there's a small labour reference so you might want to skip from "After hours" to "in her arms"

As they finally made their way out of the cave Rey could hear the sound of music coming from distance, she'd forgotten about the monthly celebration at the Lanai's village although she'd attended it a few times just to be in company but she'd never truly enjoyed it, especially because of all the slushes among the couples there.  
“Is that music or am I the only one hearing it?” Ben asked and perplexed looking around.  
“It's just a party at the village, the one I told you about” Rey explained.  
“Let's not interrupt it then or the Lanai could _throw_ us off a cliff” he joked, she really liked when he joked or he was sarcastic.  
“Oh, don't be so dramatic!” she said slightly hitting him on the shoulder.  
“I'm not _dramatic_ , but you described them as resentful”  
“Just a little bit, c'mon let's go now because I'm freezing” she was the one literally dripping and she'd already experienced that many times since she'd arrived on the island because it rained a lot.  
It took them a couple of minutes and _a lot_ of stairs to finally reach the Falcon, but at least walking had warmed Rey up and the cold wind had dried off her clothes only a little bit, which had been worse because she was shivering more than before.  
Inside the ship it was warmer than outside, during the years Rey managed to improve the heating system and made a few modifications to make the Falcon more comfortable since it was basically her home. Despite their time together on that ship Ben was looking around as if it was the first time he was seeing the Falcon, and maybe in a way it was actually the first time in many years for him. She could feel his nostalgia but also his _happiness_ to be finally there again, on that old ship that once had belonged to his father and that he'd dreamed to fly when he was still a child.  
  
“We're home now” she said taking his hand in hers, for Rey home was wherever Ben was and as long as they would be together home could be anywhere, the only thing that truly mattered to her was being together  
  
“We're home now” he repeated smiling at her, he put an arm around her waist to pull her closer and kiss her, she placed both of her hands on his shoulders and kissed him back. At first it was just a soft kiss, like the very first one they'd shared years before on the worst day of Rey's life, a day she'd tried to forget with all her efforts but that still haunted her in her nightmares. Now that she was reunited with Ben would those nightmares go away?  
Slowly that kiss became less soft and more passionate, she realized only a few moments later that she was biting his lower lip and she stopped immediately because she didn't want to hurt him and she didn't know if it was a normal thing between two lovers.

“Sorry...I-I just got carried away by the moment” she apologized pulling back from him, who was trying not to laugh “Do you find it funny?”  
  
“Actually I do” he replied letting out a laugh “You didn't do anything wrong, but if you want to slow things down it's more than fine for me” but the truth was she didn't know how to behave and she was letting her emotions guide her, should they slow things down? Technically they were already in a relationship, like a long-distance relationship, so there was nothing wrong if they both wanted _more_ than a few kisses, wasn't it? And right in that moment her own emotions were telling her she wanted more, she wanted to feel his hands caressing her skin and feel his warmth, so she didn't answer and instead she kissed him over and over again.  
  
“I'll take it as a no” Ben told her between a kiss and another, but she knew he was feeling the same and that he _desired_ her as much as she desired him. He shifted his hand from her waist to her back, sneaking it under her wet tunic as he gently pushed her against the wall behind her without stopping kissing her.  
  
“Maybe we should get to my room” Rey suggested, sure she was blushing for what she'd just said.  
  
“Since when you're so _cheeky_?” he joked.  
  
“You're such an idiot Ben Solo” she replied “But I still love you”  
  
Ben pulled back from her so she could take a few steps away from the wall, she was about to take him by the hand and led him to her room but he'd acted faster, he slightly bend down and he slid an arm under her own arm while the other under her legs.

“What are you doing? I can still walk on my own legs!” she exclaimed as he lifted her and she istinctively put her arms around his neck.  
  
“I know”  
  
“Then put me down!” but Rey couldn't help but laugh because she'd never felt that happy before and he didn't put her down, instead he headed to her room.

It was quite messy in her room, there was still a book on the chest with her stuff and a few sheets of paper on the floor, she had always been tidy person but that afternoon she'd gotten angry trying to figure out the exact day of the eclipse and she'd tossed those sheets of paper on the floor.  
Ben didn't even notice as he gently laid her on the bed and she pulled him down with her, Rey took her boots off with a kick making them ending up on the floor and he did the same but he struggled a little bit in doing so, clearly he wasn't used at such way of doing.  
She would've never imagined Ben was clumsy and she thought it was very cute of him, even after those years together she kept discovering sides of him she didn't know and maybe that was the most beautiful part about love: getting to know each other day by day, year after year.  
Ben was looking at her in a way no one else had ever done and he couldn't stop smiling.

“I've never been so happy” he told her as he caressed her cheek “ _You_ are my happiness” it was one of the most beautiful things he'd ever told her, she would've said something beautiful too but she'd never been good with words.  
  
“Are you trying to make me cry again?” she joked “Because you might succeed”  
  
“I'm just telling the truth” he whispered.

“You're my happiness too, don't forget it” she replied before kissing him.  
  
They kissed for a while until Ben slowly started kissing her on the throat, she could feel his warm breath on her skin as he placed soft kisses along her throat and Rey soon discovered she liked that. One of his hands grabbed the hem of her tunic, slightly lifting it and exposing a little bit of her skin.  
Through the bond she felt he was trying to make her feel comfortable and they were both taking their time since they were both _unexperienced_ , when they'd talked about realtionships one or two years earlier and he'd confessed that she'd been his first kiss. She knew it was stupid but she'd felt relieved when she'd found out that she was the only one he'd ever kissed because that made their first kiss more special to her. Of course he'd been her first kiss too, he was the first of many things, the first one who had seen who she really was, the first who had never underestimated her and her _first_ and _only_ love.  
Rey snuck both of her hands under his shirt rubbing her fingers along his back, it was the first time she touched him like that and that physical contact almost made her feel as if she was touching an exposed wire.

“Ow!” she exclaimed as she felt a pricking on her neck, just where Ben was kissing her except that it wasn't a kiss anymore, he was biting her just like she'd done with him earlier but it didn't hurt that much.  
  
“Did I hurt you?” he asked concerned “I'm so sorry Rey, I thought...you know...you might like it” he apologized.  
  
“Ben, relax, I'm fine and you didn't hurt me” she reassured him meeting his eyes he looked so relieved and she knew why, after all they'd been trough since their first meeting in that forest he was still afraid he might still hurt her “And I _liked_ it” she whispered, then she kissed him over and over.  
  
Rey grabbed the hem of his shirt and slowly lifted it to take it off, he didn't oppose and instead helped her taking his shirt off tossing it on the floor. She'd already seen Ben without his shirt on, that time she'd been really embarrassed because it had been the first time she'd felt physically _attracted_ by him and he was her supposed enemy so she shouldn't have felt that way. This time it was different, many things had changed but mostly _they_ had changed, they weren't enemies anymore, they weren't alone anymore because they had each other and there wasn't any kind of embarrassment between them anymore.  
The first thing she noticed was that once his scars had been now there wasn't any sign of them, when she'd healed him she'd noticed the scar she'd given him was gone but she'd never thought about thepossibility she might have healed his other scars too but to her it didn't make any difference if he had those scars or not.

"Ben...your scars are gone" she made him notice running her fingers on his smooth skin, it was like he'd _never_ been wounded.

"All thanks to you" then he placed a soft kiss on her forehead.

"I didn't even know what I was doing, the only thing I knew was that I didn't want to _lose_ you" and even after those years she still felt ashamed for stabbing him, if he'd been about to die on that wreckage it was only because of her. Ben must've felt her sense of guilt through the bond because he brought a hand to her cheek and caressed her.

"Rey stop blaming yourself, I already told you it was the Dark Side influence that made you react that way and I never blamed you" those words comforted her, she'd learnt that sometimes it was okay feeling the need to be reassured and it didn't make her weak "But the next time we argue just yell at me or insult me" he joked and she let out a laugh, he always knew how to make her smile or laugh and it was one of the things she loved the most about him.

"I'll keep it in mind, but I don't think there will be a _next time_ " or at least Rey hoped so, over the years they'd barely argued except one time, after her arrival on Ahch-To, they'd argued heavily and they'd yelled at each other because Ben had been insisting that she should've let him go and live her life, see the galaxy and be with her friends. She hadn't wanted to listen to him, telling him it wasn't up to him to tell her what to do so he'd replied that he'd given his life to her to give her a future and not to exile herself like his uncle. In the end they'd made peace only a week later and they'd both apologized for the things they'd said, since that day they hadn't argued anymore.

“With your temper? I doubt it, you're nearly impossible” he said teasing her.

“My temper? As if you were any different!” she replied pretending to be offended and in response he began to kiss her again, unclosing her lips with his own for a more passionate kiss.

“Can I consider myself excused now?” he asked when he pulled away.  
  
“Uhm...not yet” she replied giggling.

Ben's hands went to her belt and he unbuckled it so he could take her tunic off, she'd never had that kind of intimacy with anyone else and she was glad she was experiencing it with him. Before him she hadn't even thought about being romantically involved with anyone or letting someone touch her in that way, in fact she'd never liked physical contact and the only exception were her friends when they hugged her but even with them it took a while to feel completely comfortable.  
She was aware she was blushing but she let him delicately lift her tunic, she shivered a little bit not sure if it was because of the cold or because she was thrilled at the idea of what were doing, maybe it was for both things. In a clumsy way he managed to taker tunic off, which soon landed on the floor, and leaving her with only her breast band and leggings on.  
  
“I think I never told you how beautiful you are” Ben said looking at her as if she was the most beautiful and precious thing in the galaxy, she didn't need their bond to know that to him she was truly the most beautiful and precious thing in the galaxy. She'd never cared if people found her pretty nor she'd never cared about receiving compliments about her appearence, but hearing that simple word from him warmed up her heart.  
  
“And I think I never told you that I love you more than _anything_ ” the first time she'd told him she loved him she'd simply told him those word without even thinking, but she'd never told him in the way she'd just done. To her Ben meant everything, he was the other half of her soul and those years without him had only made her love for him stronger, sometimes she'd even regretted figuring out and accepting too late that she'd fallen in love with him.

They kissed again for a while, Rey loved feeling his lips on her own and she'd missed it so much that she wasn't able to stop, actually he wasn't able to stop too and they only pulled away when they both were out of air. Ben slowly slid his hands to her back and lingered on her the back of her band, she could feel he was unsure what to do because he didn't want to seem rushing things up but if she'd to be honest he wasn't and actually they were both taking their time.

“May I?” he softly asked, she just nodded and smiled at him.

When Rey had first met Ben she would've never imagined he could be that caring, sweet and delicate, the fact that he even asked for her permission made her love him more than she already did. He carefully started unfastening her breast band, exposing her skin little by little and by now she was sure that it wasn't the cold that was making her shiver. She placed both of her hands around his neck and pulled him closer for a kiss as he managed to unfasten the fabric, although she was more than comfortable with him she blushed again and her first instict would've been to cover herself with her own hands if she wasn't keeping them on him.

“You're even _more beautiful_ when you blush” he whispered on her lips.

Rey lost track of the time as they continued kissing, Ben's hands were on her hips as he kissed her throat, slowly descending to her breast and she ran her hands through his silky and soft hair. It was so beautiful feeling his warm body against hers, it was a reminder he was actually there and it wasn't just a dream. Only a moment later she realized his hands were grabbing the edge of her leggings and she was fine with that because she _wanted_ him, after four years apart she thought it was normal to feel that way.  
Very soon a pile of clothes gathered on the floor, in a clumsy way they'd both managed to take the rest of their clothes off and now they were exploring each other's body.

“Now you can consider yourself excused” she whispered on Ben's lips as he kissed her.

“So do you want me to stop?” he asked joking, he was perfectly aware that she didn't want that.  
  
“You already know the answer”

“I know, but for once I'd like not to rely on our bond... not for _this_ ” she understood what he meant, their bond made so easy knowing each other's thoughts, desires, fears and thoughts without the need to talk. But maybe it was time to start talk and act more and relying on their bond less, just like an ordinary couple althogh they'd never been ordinary and they would never be.

“Then listen carefully” she said taking his face in her hands “Everything we've been doing so far was because I wanted it as much as you want it”

“Are you sure? Because I swear that I don't want to force you to do anything you don't want to” that insecurity she'd first glimpled years ago was still there but she liked even that part of him, the part of him that needed to be reassured just like her.

“Ben, I've been waiting four years to be with you again so I'm more than sure that right now I want to _make love_ with you” saying it out loud somehow made it more real and she couldn't take back those words even if she'd wanted, she wasn't a kid anymore and she knew exactly what she wanted.

“Well, then we have four years to make up for” he joked right before kissing her and biting her lower lip.

That night Rey felt emotions and sensations she'd never felt before, mostly physically and she couldn't even name them, a warm feeling spread throughout her body, if she had to be honest at first she even felt a bit of pain and at same time it was a kind of pleasure she'd never felt but Ben concerned anyway because she'd let herself escape something between an exclamation and a lament.

“Are you alright?”

“I'm fine...I think it's normal the first time” but actually she wasn't sure about it, they both had let their istinct prevail and guide them because it was an unexplored territory.

“If I hurt you again just tell me please” he said as he moved a lock of her hair away from her face.

“You won't, you didn't do anything wrong” she replied quoting his own words.

“Did you just quot-” Rey didn't even let him finish that question and shut him up with a passionate kiss, meeting his tongue with hers, and rubbing both of her hands on his back.  
All their worries vanished as they felt more confident, whispering each other's name and sweet words, exchanging caresses and kisses while making love.

* * *

The next morning Rey was awakon by a trail of kisses on her neck, one of Ben's arms was around her waist and his chest was pressed against her back, she could feel his beating heart and it was the most wonderful thing feeling him alive again. She pretended to be still asleep as she enjoyed those kisses smiling like an idiot.

“I know you're awake sweetheart” Ben's voice was soft even after waking up after a night of passion.

“How do you know?” she asked slowly turning on her other side to be face to face with him.

“Because you _snore_ a lot when you sleep”

“What? How can you even say that if you were sleeping too?”

“All those sleepless nights, remember? I used to stay with you until you felt asleep again” he said placing a kiss on the tip of her nose.

“Oh...”

“Don't worry, I love that” Ben reassured her and held her tighter, he was so warm and she was already getting used to feel his skin against her own, it felt so natural as if they'd always had that kind of intimacy.

“Really? Let's see in a few years if you'll still love it” then she started laughing and she wasn't even sure why.

“Maybe I'll love it even more”

“You can't be serious!”

“I'm serious Rey and I know that in a few years I'll love everything about you even more than now” he said caressing her back with both of his hands. They'd talked for years about their future but now that they were finally together they should've talked about it again and decide what they were going to do from that moment on.

“Speaking of it...” she began unsure what to say “What are we going to do now?”

“Whatever you want” the smile ha gave her was the brightest she'd seen so far but she didn't want to decide for him too, his wishes mattered too and she wanted him to be happy too.

“No, it doesn't work like that” she leaned forward and softly kissed him. “There's no me or you in this, it's _us_ now”

“Us” he repeated “I like how it sounds”

“So...what about showing me all the beautiful places you've been?” she suggested, Ben had often told her about his trips with his parents on the rare occasions they weren't busy and had time for him, the places he'd described seemed to be wonderful and she would've liked to see them.

“I would show you the _whole galaxy_ if you asked me”

“A few places will do” she joked.

“Since we're planning our future...I want to do things properly with you this time” he began and she felt a wave of agitation coming from him.

“What do you mean?” she was confused by his words, what kind of things did he want to do properly? He'd been a caring and understanding all those years she'd spent alone, he'd never done nothing inappropriate.

“I know we're already deeply bound...and that you don't need a family name to be someone but, well, I want to _marry_ you” surprise took over confusion, followed by pure joy that Rey was sure her heart could explode from a moment to another and ears of joy streamed down her cheeks without even realizing it.

“I want it too, I want to be your wife” she finally said taking his face in her hands and kissing him, through their bond Rey felt Ben's joy too and his wonder.

When they pulled apart they were both smiling and she couldn't tell which emotions were hers and which were his, it was like their emotions had become one thing.

“You got better at proposing” she joked.

“Those stupid attempts to ask you to stay with me don't count” he replied.

“Yes, they do”

“No, they don't” and before she could say anything else he shut her up with another kiss.

* * *

After six months of traveling across the galaxy they established on Naboo, which now was the new capital of the Republic. They moved to the lake house that once belonged to Ben's grandmother and that Leia had inherited, a place he'd visited a couple of times in his life unaware of the truth. Leia had always told Ben that the estate belonged to the Organa family, her adoptive parents, and she and Han had taken him on trips there during summer. Ben had found out the truth when he was in the world between worlds and he'd seen that it was the place where his grandparents had fallen in love and had secretly got married.  
That was the place Rey had seen in her visions years before, the fancy terrace was where Anakin Skywalker and Padmé Amidala had gotten married, so she'd thought it would nice if she and Ben got married there. He'd gladly agreed because he'd thought it would be _poetic_ and also because he loved that place, in addition to that Rose had gave them an occupation since they didn't want to be Jedi anymore, Rey was going to be her assistant while Ben her new interpreter since he knew many languages since C-3PO was more helpful in other scopes. They'd both closed themselves to the Force to live an ordinary life , but for strange reasons their bond had stayed untouched.  
What truly had surprised Rey was that Finn and Poe had agreed to keep Ben's secret, no one would ever know that the former Supreme Leader was actually Leia and Han's son, everyone had believed for a long time that Ben had disappeared with Luke so they would that version of the story even if he didn't like the idea of lying but it was for his own good and for Rey's.  
As for Chewbacca, they'd paid him a visit on Kashyyyk to meet him and his family and as soon as the wookiee had seen them he'd pulled them both an hug that had almost left them breathless. Ben and Chewbacca spent most of the time together to catch up all those years, the wookiee had forgiven him and he only wanted the best for him and of course for Rey.  
Chewbacca children were the most adorable children Rey had ever met, they had immediately grown fond of her and Ben, to the point they'd started calling them _“oaoohucahwhc”_ , which stood for _“cousins”_. Wanna, Chewbacca's wife, had treated them as if she'd always been knowing them and had asked them to tell her their story because she loved love stories. When she'd found out that Rey had shot Ben when she first met him she'd laughed and defined it “love at first shot”

It was a warm summer day and it was the wedding day, Rey and Ben had moved to the estate just three days before so it was still everything new to her, that place was huge and Rey wasn't used to live in a such big place with all that rooms.  
Rose was helping Rey getting dressed and she'd even managed to convince her to do her a simple make-up, as a gift for her Rose had paid for the dress and she hadn't accepted a no as answer, at least she hadn't insisted on her wearing heeled shoes and let her choose white ballerinas flat. However Rey'd chosen a different dress from the one she'd been wearing in her vision, she chose a sleeveless white and pastel yellow dress, with a heart-shaped neckline embroidered with pastel yellow flowers.  
The upper part of the dress was white blending in a pastel yellow shade, the gown was in soft tulle and it wasn't too large but neither too tight so she it was very comfortable, it was the first time Rey wore a dress but she liked how it fit her.  
Rose was instead wearing a beautiful one shoulder pink dress with a fluffy gown and for once she had her hair down, which now was longer than Rey remembered.  
It was almost surreal being there with Rose doing something normal, when the war was still going on the only things they did and talked about were about recruiting, fixing ships and planning missions. And when they didn't talk about that they talked about the past, well, mainly it was Rose who talked about her past and Rey just listened because she liked to listen to her friends stories.  
Years had passed and peace had been restored, everyone had their own life and even after everything that had happened their _friendship_ was still there and Rey had been very surprised when all of her friends told her they would be attending her wedding. She wasn't expecting that at all although they'd accepted the fact she'd been in love with their former enemy the whole time, even after Crait, and she'd kept it a secret.  
Rey was really happy to share with her friends the joy of the most _beautiful day_ of her life and that one of them would actually celebrate the ceremony as a gift.  
Rose had finished tying the laces on the back of her dress, Rey took a better look at her own reflection in the mirror and she really liked what she saw, that dress valorized her body shape and it made her feel beautiful.

"You're the prettiest bride I've ever seen, I bet your fiancé is going to pass out as soon as he sees you" according to many culture's traditions on the wedding day the groom couldn't be with the bride until the ceremony nor he could see her dress, it was Rose who'd told her and Ben about that tradition and they thought it was actually a nice thing. So Rey had slept in one of the guest rooms and that morning Rose had arrived early to get her ready for the ceremony.

"Oh, don't be so exaggerated, I mean I know it's the first time he sees me in a dress but I don't think that's going to change how he sees me" she replied smiling, to Ben she was always beautiful and he liked very much to remind her almost every day.

"But that's the point!" Rose exclaimed "It's the first time and you're going to be even more beautiful to him”

"Well, we can say the same about me, I've never seen him in an elegant outfit" Rey admitted.

"Can I say that I think he's gonna be _very handsome_ or are you going to kick me in the ass?" her friend joked, Rey wasn't that kind of woman, she wasn't jealous if other people found him attractive because she knew he only had eyes for her and he only loved her.

"Well, that's the truth so you can say it" she replied laughing.

"Now let's do your hair then your make-up”

Rey sat on the small couch in the bedroom, turning her back to Rose so she could style her hair.

"So how do you want me to style your hair?"

"I was thinking something with a braid, but I want to leave the rest down" she'd thought about it the whole morning and she wanted to honor Leia in someway, she'd always seen Leia with different hairstyles that included braids and once she'd asked her out of curiosity if it had a meaning. Leia had explained to her it was an Alderaanian tradition and that each braid had a meaning, the idea of Leia not being there with them on their most important day broke her heart although it had been years since Leia's death. It also broke her heart knowing that even Han would miss it, that he hadn't even gotten to know that his sacrifice hadn't been in vain because in the end Ben had found his way back to the light.  
Rey was trying not to cry thinking about them, she'd always seen both Han and Leia as the _parents_ she'd never had and now she was going to be part of their family. She wondered if they would be happy to know that she was marrying their only son or if they would even approve their relationship.  
Rose was working on her hair, braiding only some locks of hair so the rest could be down as she wanted, in four years her hair had grown very long and she hadn't cut it because she actually liked it. Whatever Rose was doing it required a few minutes

“Wait, I've just got an idea, stay where you are!” Rose exclaimed and crossing the room to get out on the small balcony, what did her friend had in mind?  
A few seconds later Rose came back to the room with some white flowers in her hand.

“Did you just pick up those flowers from their vases?” Rey asked, they'd bought them just the day before after days of cleaning up the whole house after years of abandon.  
  
“I shouldn't have done it, should have I? I'm so sorry, I thought it would be nice putting some flowers into your braid” she apologized.

“It's okay, I just asked so I can plant other flowers again” she assured her “Besides it's a very nice idea!”

“I'm glad you like it” Rose gave her a smile and sat behind her to place the flowers in her hair “And I think Ben is going to have fun to take them off” that joke made Rey blush a little bit because she knew what Rose was meaning and although she was fine with jokes like that it was still a little bit embarrassing talking about _that_ with her friend.

“Are you talking for experience?”

“What? No, I mean...there's a Senator, he's from here, but we haven't gotten that far” Rose confessed blushing.

“ _Not yet_ ” and then they both laughed as Rose finished working on her hair.

As for the make up Rose just applied a little bit of mascara and blusher on her cheeks, things Rey didn't even know they existed because on Jakku it was very rare seeing made up women so Rose explained her what they were for. While Rose had even her lips painted in a light shade of pink Rey preferred to limit herself to the mascara and the blusher.

“Now you're ready” her friend said, but suddenly she felt a little bit nervous and her hands were shaking although it was going to be a very small and intimate ceremony with only her friends.  
“Is it normal that I feel nervous?”

“Totally normal, it's your big day and we're all here for you” Rose reassured her “C'mon, let's not make your almost-husband wait too long”

The terrace was decorated with a lot of flowers, however there was an arch made of flowers that hadn't been there the day before and she was sure she hadn't asked for it, maybe Ben had wanted to make her a surprise knowing how much she loved flowers and the idea made her smile. The night before they'd arranged out there some chairs decorated with a simple blue ribbon so their guests could take a sit and it hadn't been easy finding something suitable for a family of wookiees.  
Rey felt as her heart had skipped a beat or two as she was looking at Ben waiting for her in front of the flower arch, he was wearing a simple dark blue suit, the cuffs of the jacket were embroidered with golden deatails and underneath he was wearing a simple white shirt, he was indeed very handsome and he was looking at her _in awe_.  
Finn was sitting on her left and Rose joined him, while Chewbacca and his family were sitting on her right, Poe was the one who would celebrate since he was a General and he had the autority to do it. Through the bond Rey felt that Ben was nervous too, it was kinda ironic that they were feeling that way for something so joyful while they'd faced worse without hesitation.  
She joined Ben in front of the arch, he took her by the hand and they couldn't stop staring at each other.

“You're wonderful” Ben whispered so only Rey could hear him.

“You look like a prince” she replied in a whisper and smiling at him.

“Well, now we're all here” Poe announced “Before we begin I want to remind you I've never done this before so please be patient with me” that made everyone laugh and Rey relaxed a little bit.

“Don't worry, we would still make fun of you!” Finn shouted.  
“Right...so would you like to say something, like promises, or are you two going just to stare at each other the whole time?” Poe asked them with sarcasm.

“I think I'll go first” Ben said and she nodded, she wasn't good with words and even though she had something to say too she was glad he was going to talk first.

“Good, then go ahead” Poe encouraged him as he took both of her hands in his and looked her in the eyes.

“When I first met you it wasn't under the best circumstances” he began “But as soon as I saw you I felt like I already knew you, as if we'd already met before...and then you started shooting at me, so as our dear Wanna has told us I think it was _love at first shot_ for me” again everyone laughed, including Rey and him “That pull to the light I've been feeling again since that day was because of you Rey, you are _my light,_ you'll always be and I wished I'd realized sooner. I made you suffer and I disappointed you, you should've hated me for the things I've done yet you saw something in me that I couldn't see and you decided not to give up on me.  
You risked everything the day you came to me, with faith and a spark hope in your beautiful eyes and that was the moment I realized that I meant something to you too but I was too scared and I disappointed you” Rey felt warm tears streaming down her face, she didn't even care it might ruin her make-up and she noticed Ben was crying too “I asked you to stay with me that day but I now realize we both weren't ready yet, at first I thought you had abandoned me because I'd failed your expectations and that broke my heart so I reacted in the only way I knew. I'm not proud of what I've done, until a few years ago I thought it was too late for me, that I wasn't worth saving and I was a monster, as you told me. But then you chose to save me and you didn't only save my life on the Death Star but also _my soul_ and I realized that it might be not too late for me that I could still save myself, that I could still do the right thing because as I long as I'd been with you I would've been on the right path. That day I saw a memory of my father, he told to go back home and the only thing I could think about was you because _you_ are my home.  
When I saw you on that floor I already knew you were gone and my whole world shattered, I couldn't accept the idea of losing you, the kindest and strongest person I've ever met. I didn't want to give up on you and giving my life to you was the easiest choice I've ever made because I love you more than my life, after all what had happened between us I thought you deserved to live more than me and you would've been happier without me” at that point Rey was literally sobbing, they'd been through so much, they'd hurt each other, they'd saved each other and in the end they'd chosen each other. “But I was wrong Rey, by saving you I made you suffer again even though there was no other way to bring you back.  
Not even death stopped you, once again you chose not to give up on me, _on us_ , you've always had more faith than me and I love you for that.  
Today I want to promise you that I won't ever leave you ever again and I'll always love you, that I'll make you smile everyday and I'll make you happy, I'll always be by your side and I promise we'll face everything together. I want to give you the life you've always deserved, I want us to be the family you've always wanted and that I want too, starting from today” if there had been a competition for who was crying more it would've been hard to tell who was the winner because Rey was still sobbing and Ben was crying in a way she'd never seen, even Poe had teary eyes and he was trying not to show it. She could hear her friends sniffing, Chewbacca and his family were the loudest ones and she couldn't help but smile.

“If anyone has finished crying we can go on, unless you don't need some tissues” Poe said “Does anyone have tissues here?” no one answered and Rey could clearly hear Finn and Rose laughing.

Rey released her left hand from Ben's grip to wipe her tears away and she was surprised to find out that her make-up hadn't melted or otherwise the back of her hand would've been covered in black. She took Ben's hand again and smiled at him.

“We can go on” she said turning to Poe.

“Alright, so we can all cry again” he joked.

"You're not helping" Rey replied, then she turned to Ben again and took a deep breath "You know I've never been good with words, but there are so many things that I've always wanted to tell you and I don't even know where to start” she laughed again, that was going to be more difficult than she thought “The day I met you was the day my life completely changed for many reasons and you're one of them, I never told you that when I first saw you I recognized you because I used to see you in my _dreams_ and just a few minutes before our meeting I'd seen you in a vision. When I was in your mind I saw your loneliness just as you saw mine, I saw how lost you were feeling and at first it scared me so much knowing how similar we were.  
Then the Force started connecting us, I didn't know what was happening and I'm sorry for all the awful things I told you, I never really thought you were a monster. The night I went to that cave I was feeling so lonely, in a way I'd never felt, I needed to talk to someone and the only person I thought about was _you_ because I knew you would've listened to me, that you would've understood me. But you did more than that, you told me I wasn't _alone_ and I believed you because you were there for me, the only other person that felt the same way I've always felt” maybe Poe was right after all because she felt tears in her eyes again “When our hands touched I saw not only your future, but ours and in that moment I realized that I felt something for you because I wanted that future to be real. I came to you hoping that it was the same for you, that I _meant something_ to you too and that it would be enough to make you change your mind.  
You saved my life that day, it was then that I realized that you felt the same things and then you said that for anyone else I was nothing but not to you, to you I was something and I wanted to _stay_ with you more than anything. But you didn't want to let that power go, I thought you cared about power more than me and leaving you was the hardest choice I've ever made.  
You know how terrible I felt for almost killing you, that was the moment I understood I deeply loved you and I was willing to give you _all my life_ to save you because I didn't want to lose you but I was so ashamed for what I've done that I left you again. And then you showed up when I needed you the most, you _came back_ for me and if it wasn't for you I would've made the wrong choice thinking I was saving everyone.  
When I didn't feel you anymore I was so broken because I thought I'd lost you forever and when I realized I was dying my last thought was _you”_ Rey was sobbing again and Ben was still crying, softly squeezing her hands “I was so happy when I opened my eyes and the first thing I saw was you, once again you'd come back for me and I wanted to tell you I loved you but I didn't know how...so I kissed you hoping you would understand” everyone started laughing again and Ben laughed too, she loved that sound and she loved his smile “Then I _lost_ you for real and I felt that a half of me was missing, I wanted to be alone and I couldn't stand the idea that I'd lost you forever, that we would never have the future I'd seen and that I had to live missing half of me.  
That's why I never gave up, all my life I've been looking for my belonging and I know it's always been you Ben, you're _my belonging_ and _my home_. You've always accepted me for who I am, you encouraged me to become the woman I am today and not to hold on the past, a past that always prevented me to move on with my life.  
I want to promise you that I'll make you feel loved every day, that I'll always support you and that I'll make you happy too because I want to see that beautiful smile of yours everyday. I promise I won't allow anything to tear us apart again and I want us to be a happy family, no matter how things may seem difficult because together we can go through anything and our love is _stronger_ than anything” she concluded and this time even Poe was crying like a baby, it was the first time she saw him getting so emotional.

“I told you we would all cry again” Poe declared, then he whistled and BB-8 came out of nowhere to join them, Rey was so happy to see him again because she hadn't seen that droid since the day she'd left.

“Beebee-ate it's so good to see you!” she exclaimed, the droid beeped happily and Rey slightly kneeled, although it wasn't easy for her since she was wearing a dress, and pat the droid's head. No one had told her that he would be there too and she was so glad for that surprise. BB-8 opened one of his compartments and let out a mechanical arm,which was holding a small wooden box, and beeped a few times.

"Do you want me to take it?" the droid tilted his head as if he was nodding, Rey took the box and got up, was that a gift from her friends? She opened the box and inside there were two rings, a smaller one made of a golden metal and larger one made of a silver metal: their wedding rings. She turned to Pie to thank him.

"Don't look at me, it was Solo's idea" Poe said amused "I just helped him" that was a surprise, Ben and Poe making her a surprise? Since Ben's return her friends barely talked to him, except for Rose, because they were still trying to know him and the only reason they were there was her.

"I thought it would be appropriate having him bring our rings, we wouldn't have met if it wasn't for him" Ben said smiling at her, she smiled at him too because it was true, the reason why Ben had found her in the forest was him looking for BB-8.

"It's perfect!" she exclaimed, her heart was full of joy as she embraced him, still holding the box, and buried her face into his shirt "Thank you my love"

"I just promised you that I would make you happy and I want to keep that promise" he whispered into her hair. 

"If someone had told me that one day I would've heard you two saying slushes to each other and swearing _eternal love_ I would've laughed thinking it was a joke" Poe interrupted them making everyone laugh again "But love is unpredictable so here we are and even if we already know the answer I must ask you, Rey do you want to take Ben as your husband?" she pulled away from him and handed Poe the box, then she took Ben's hand into hers.

"I do" those were two simple words but the meaning was so deep to her, she was officially _choosing_ Ben as her family and he was choosing her as his. She took the silver ring out of the box, her hand was shaking from the emotion as she put the ring on Ben's right ring finger.

"And you Ben, do you want to take Rey as your wife?”

“I do” he said as he proceeded to take the golden ring out of the box and putting it on her right ring finger.

“Well, I'd say it's done, I pronounce you husband and wife” Poe declared “Now you can kiss and remember I said kiss, not _making out_ ” they both laughed then Ben put an arm around her waist to pull her close and softly kissed her.

* * *

Since it was a small and simple ceremony they didn't arrange a big banquet and they'd had a little help from Rose because none of them knew the city, Ben was only a child when he used to go there and a lot of things had changed the last twenty years.  
In six months of travel Rey and Ben had visited many places and she'd gotten the chance to taste meals she didn't even know they existed, she'd even tried different types of pastries and cakes.  
It was too hot to have lunch outside so they moved inside, in one of the biggest hall where three tables had been arranged for that day, Rey had personally chose the menu while Ben the decorations. The tables were covered in a pastel yellow tablecloth and there was a simple vase with white flowers in the middle of each table.  
They all had just sat at their tables when Finn stood up from his chair drawing everyone's attention.

“Uhm...if it's okay I'd like to say something” that was another surprise because of all her friends Finn was the one who liked Ben the less, Rey exchanged a perplexed look with Ben, who looked as just surprised as her, then she nodded at Finn.

“We all know how everything started, I was running away from the First Order when I met Rey and she hit me with her staff thinking I was a thief” it was incredible that years had passed since that day and that memory made Rey smile, while the others laughed “You've been my first friend, even though I lied to you but you've always been good and kind that you forgave me for those lies. I used to think that you needed to be protected, because that's what friends do, they protect each other so I thought it was up to me protecting you but you never needed it because you can take care of yourself better than any of us. When you left us four years ago I couldn't understand why and when you finally told us the truth I couldn't accept that someone as good as you could love someone who made us suffer...uhm no offense Solo”

“None taken, that's true” Ben replied, it still amazed Rey how he'd finally made peace with his past and accepted that his mistakes didn't define who he was now because he'd learned from them. She rested her head on his shoulder and he wrapped an arm around her bare shoulders, she was so grateful that they didn't have to hide and that her friends were there.

“Anyway... I realized then it's because you're good and see the good in everyone that you might actually have fallen in love with Solo, I'm so sorry if I had judged you because now I can see how happy you are and how much he _loves_ you. That's what truly matters because you're my best friend Rey, I wish you all the best because you deserve it... and I can't believe I'm saying this but maybe even your husband deserves it after all” both Rey and Ben laughed for that, it must've been the hardest thing to admit for Finn but she knew he was sincere because months before she and Ben had told the whole story to everyone, including Ben's past.

“Congratulations to both of you” Finn concluded smiling at them, then he sat again and everyone applauded.

“Well, if anyone else wants to make a speech now it's the right time” Rey declared.

“It's not a speech but I'd like to say something too” Poe said raising from his chair “You guys are the most unexpected copule I've ever seen but you're also the proof that love is stronger than hate and you know, you're actually a _beautiful couple_. It was an honor for me celebrate your wedding and damn it you actually made cry, not even my boyfriend can make it”

“You're such an idiot sometimes” Finn interjected.

“Hey, you were crying too, we all were as if it was funeral” only a moment later he realized what he'd just said “Shit, I shouldn't have said that” then he sat again.

“I want to say something too!” Rose said, as she got up she smoothed the wrinkles of her gown “I always believed that saving those we love is what truly matters and you're the living proof of it, you two didn't allow not even death to tear you apart.  
I admire both of you for not giving up on love, I'm sure you'll be a beautiful family and I wish both of you all the happiness in the galaxy” Rey started crying again, that day was full of tears but it was all from joy and she felt so lucky to have friends who only wanted her to be happy.

“Thank you, all of you it means so much to us” Ben said “And I know you're here mostly for Rey, but I'm grateful you're here”

“Ohwo'rcwo acworcwo wwoorc rooohu aooooo” [We're here for you too] Chewbacca interjected “Rawhwa ah'sc akrcoohuwa ooww rooohu aoohoo” [And I'm proud of you two]

“Thanks uncle Chewie”

* * *

After lunch everyone insisted that the newlyweds had to open the dances, the truth was that it wasn't neither her or Ben's idea but surprisingly it had been Finn and Poe's idea. Rey had never danced before, she'd seen the Lanai dancing at their monthly celebration but she'd never tried herself and mostly because they used to dance in pair and she was always alone. As far as she knew neither Ben had ever danced before so it would be funny doing something new together for the first time, that was how their new life was going to start and she was very excited about it.  
Ben took her by the hand and led her in the middle of the hall, she placed both of her hands on his shoulders and he placed a hand on her back while the other on her waist.

“I've never done this before” he confessed in a low voice “But I'll try not to step on your feet”

“I haven't neither but I can't promise you the same” she said laughing.

“That's really comforting, what I got myself into?” he said with sarcasm.

“Are you having second thoughts?” she joked.

“Never, I'd choose you in any _lifetime_ ” that was the most beautiful thing he'd ever told her and she felt all his love behind those words, before him Rey didn't know that such a kind of love could exist at all.

“Me too, all these years I couldn't even imagine myself loving someone that wasn't you”

Without even realizing they were slowly dancing following the sound of the music, a soft and slow melody broadcast by BB-8, that poor droid was being used as a music player but he didn't seem bothered. Although Ben had told her he'd never danced before he was the one leading and she was following him, unfortunately she stepped on his feet twice but he pretended not to notice. It was ironic that fighting with a lightsaber was easier than dancing to Rey, although she hadn't used one since that awful day and if she had to be honest she didn't even miss it. She'd lived most of her life without using the Force or a lightsaber, she'd managed to survive counting only her instinct and skills, so an ordinary life was more than fine to her.  
All of her friends joined them in the middle of the hall, the most surreal thing was seeing Chewbacca and Wanna dancing too, who would have ever imagined that wookiees were good at dancing?  
Findy and Moona – Chewbacca's daughters – ran to Rey and Ben to ask them if they wanted to dance with them, the two little wookiees were only four and three years old but they were already tall like a six years old human child. The most hilarious thing Rey had ever seen was Ben bending down to dance with Findy, but Rey had to bend down too to dance with Moona as well, she liked those kids very much and she truly considered them part of their family since Chewbacca was like an uncle to Ben.

“Ohacworcwo ooaoacworc oaoohucahwhc?” [Where other cousins?] Findy asked them, the children had still learn how to speak properly but most of the time they could understand the two little wookiees, however this time Rey didn't understand what Findy was meaning.

“What do you mean sweetie?” she asked her.

“Rhrarhro oaoohucahwhc!” [Baby cousins!] Moona answered for both of them, _oh that's what she was meaning_ Rey thought, of course the two sisters would've liked to have others children to play with.

“Not yet, but maybe _soon_ ” Ben told them smiling, in the past six months they'd talked about having children and they'd both agreed that first they had to settle so they'd been very careful to prevent any 'surprises'.

“Ohwo akanraro ohahaoac aoacworo?”[We play with they] Findy asked then.

“Of course you'll play with them, you can come here whenever you want and we'll come to you too” Rey promised them, she already loved the idea of their future children playing with Chewbacca's daughters and she couldn't help but smile.

* * *

It was almost evening, they all danced for hours and they'd all been to the lake to enjoy the sun, Poe had even had the audacity to jump into the lake with his suit still on and he'd even asked if anyone wanted to join but the only ones who agreed were Chewbacca and Moona.  
As for the rest of them they just stayed on some blankets they'd brought to sit on the grass and talked, they had a lot of stories to share and for Rey had been a joy seeing Ben and her friends talk to each other. Rose had been the one who'd talked the most, she was very good at socializing so it was easy for everyone to talk when she was around.  
Now they were back to the estate for a final toast and the dessert, a simple glazed cake that Rey had chosen by herself and Ben had been glad to let her choose whatever she wanted, sometimes he really liked to pamper her. Since it wasn't that hot anymore they chose to eat outside, a gentle breeze had started to blow across the lake and the sun was beginning to set.  
With Chewbacca's help they'd managed to move a table outside and the chairs from the ceremony were still there if anyone wanted to take a sit so everything was ready, except that Rose had come back inside and they were waiting for her.

“What do you think she's doing?” Ben asked her, they were leaning against the balustrade of the terrace and they were looking at the sunset.

“Who knows, Rose is unpredictable” she replied.

“Just like you then” he joked.

“And is that a bad thi-” but she never finished that question because he leaned forward and kissed her, she brought a hand to his face and she kissed him back.

“Uhm...sorry I didn't mean to interrupt” Rose said behind them as they pulled away, Rey hadn't even heard her footsteps or maybe she had been just too distracted. They both turned to Rose, who was holding a white box with a red ribbon: another gift.

"I know you said you didn't want any presents because I bought you the dress, but this is for _both_ of you" Rose said before Rey could say that she didn't need to buy them something and that her presence was all that mattered.

"Oh… Rose that wasn't necessary" Ben said, clearly embarrassed and caught by surprise by that gesture.

"I know, but I wanted to give you something special, or I hope it is"

"Shall we open it?" Rey asked Ben, she was so curious to find out what was in that box.

"I'll leave the honor to you" he said as he gently took the box from Rose's hands so Rey could untie the ribbon and open it. As she lifted the lid of the box she saw a thin layer of red tulle and underneath it she glimpsed something white and folded. She moved the light fabric and she took what was under it, it was very delicate at the touch and when she took it out the box she finally understood what it was. The tiny knitted blanket looked handmade, it was white with bright orange edges and in one of the corners Rey spotted an embroidery in the same shade of orange of the edges.  
She gave a better look at it and she noticed two simple words.

" _Little Solo_ " she read out loud and smiled, that was the cutest thing she'd ever seen and it warmed her heart up, although she and Ben didn't have children yet Rey already knew they would _be loved_ , the kind of love she'd never had when she was a child and that she wanted to give to their future children.

"It's so beautiful" Rey said, touched by that gift.

"That's very nice, thank you Rose" Ben added, trying not to cry but Rey could see tears in his eyes, he'd never had friends and his only best friend had died the night the temple had been burned down, which Ben had found out had been destroyed by a lightning that he hadn't summoned as he'd always thought.

"I'm glad you like it" Rose replied with a big smile on her face.

"Did you do it by yourself?" Rey asked out of curiosity, bringing the blanket to her chest, she could tell when something was handmade because when she lived on Jakku she'd made herself a blanket and a pillow.

"Actually yes, it took me months…well I started knitting it as soon as you told me about the wedding" her friend admitted.

"That makes it even more special" Ben said smiling while Rey put the blanket in the box again so she could hug Rose.

"Thank you Rose, it's the best gift ever" she said while hugging her friend.

"What's going on here?" Finn asked as he and the others approached, then he noticed the box in Ben's hands "Oh, you gave them _that_ gift" he added amused.

* * *

By the time the ceremony ended it was evening, the next day her friends had to go back to their occupations, while she and Ben would start only a week later because Rose wanted to give them time to settle down properly. Luckily she lived there too so she offered to help them if they needed anything and Rey was so grateful to have a friend like her.  
After losing everything, life now was giving her everything she'd ever wished for and she couldn't ask for anything better.  
When she'd first met Ben she would've never imagined that one day she would be his wife, actually she'd never imagined herself marrying someone because the only thing she could allow herself to think when she was on Jakku was surviving day by day. But now she hadn't to survive anymore, she had a real home, she had a husband that loved her more than anything and she had friends who cared for her.  
Their bedroom was the biggest one in the whole house, with a balcony that overlooked the lake and the moonlight enlightened everything.

"This was the _most beautiful_ day of my life" Rey said as she and Ben entered the room, she thought the most beautiful day of her life was when they'd gotten reunited, but now she was reconsidering it because their wedding day had been even better.

"I think I never cried as much as today, all because of you" he joked.

"You? Did you see me? I was a walking fountain" she replied laughing.

"The most beautiful walking fountain" Ben laughed too and bent down to kiss her, she put both of her arms around his neck as she kissed him back, unclosing his lips with hers.

"Wait…" he whispered on her lips.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing, but I just remembered something...a tradition from Alderaan" Ben had told her that when he was a child his mother used to tell him about Alderaan, its traditions and her family, although that world had been destroyed she'd passed on its legacy. But it was kinda weird he just remembered it in that moment, did it have something to do with marriage?

"And what is it about?"

"You may think it's stupid, my mother used to tell me that my father undid her braids every night before going to sleep because according to the tradition only the person you loved could do that, it was considered very intimate" he explained as he moved a lock of her hair from her face.

"Oh, that's so sweet" she said "I'd like if you undid my braids too" but before that she kissed him one more time.

She took him by the hand and led him to their bed so they could sit and he could start undoing her hair. Ben sat on the edge of the bed and she sat right in front of him, she took her shoes off with a kick, even if they were comfortable she was glad she could take them off, and turned her back to him.

"I never thought one day I would actually do this" he softly whispered as he touched her hair, although she couldn't see his face she knew he was smiling.

"Can we do it every night?" she asked, that tradition was very lovely and she would like to keep it alive, to remember a place that none of them had the chance to visit but that the galaxy hadn't forgotten.

"We can do whatever you want sweetheart" he placed a soft kiss on her neck and then he got back to undoing the two braids Rose had done that were like a crown, leaving a few locks loose near her face. While undoing the braids, Ben stopped a few times to kiss her on the neck, knowing she really liked when he did it, another thing she loved about him was the fact he was very romantic.

“Uhm...can you help me unfastening the laces of my dress too?” she asked, it wasn't entirely an excuse to get him taking it off her and a little bit of help would be great since she couldn't do it all alone.

“I know _what_ are you thinking” he kissed her on the neck again “But you don't need these excuses”

“That's not an excuse!” she replied “And besides we both know that in a way or another you would've gotten me out of this dress”

“And you would've let me do it because you want it too” he said as he continued kissing her neck slowly descending to her shoulder and she closed her eyes abandoning herself to those attentions.

“You're _enjoying_ all this, aren't you?” truth was she was enjoying it too, she loved the way he slowly kissed her everywhere, the way he caressed her skin and feeling his warm body pressed against hers, but she also loved running her fingers through his fluffy hair, kissing his soft lips and rubbing her hands on his back.  
In a few moments he managed to unfasten the laces and the upper part of the dress slipped away from her chest, leaving her only with her strapless bra, the light breeze coming from outside made her shiver a little bit after all that hours under the warm sun.  
Rey turned to Ben, taking his face in her hands to kiss him as he gently made her lay on the bed and her hands slowly descended to his shoulders to take his jacket off. She tossed the jacket on the floor while Ben was carefully removing the rest of the dress and struggling a little bit since she'd never worn a dress before so he'd never taken one off her.

“I think we still have to work on the whole dress thing” he joked, making her laugh.

“You're almost done, you can do it” she said making fun of him “Besides I can't help you with you lying on me, so you'll have to figure out yourself”

“I'm glad at least one of us is having _fun_ ”

“As if you're not having fun t-” Ben shut her up with a passionate kiss unclosing her lips with his and sliding his tongue in her mouth.  
As he finally managed to get rid of the dress, leaving her with only her underclothes on, she started unbuttoning his shirt quickly

“You're still wearing too many clothes” she said as she proceeded unbuttoning the shirt, she was halfway and for a moment she let her hands linger on his chest, just right were she could feel his heartbeat.

“I think you're already remedying to that” he said letting out a laugh.

In a couple of minutes all their clothes were scattered on the floor, Rey was running her fingers through Ben's hair as he was kissing her throat, he had one of his hands on her cheek while his other hand was lingering on her thigh.

“I love you so much Ben” she whispered “And I'll love until _my last breath_ ” he stopped kissing her and lifted his lifted his gaze, meeting her eyes with hers.

“I love you so much too, you're all _my life_ Rey” he softly told her.

That morning Rey woke up first, she slowly opened her eyes and she blinked a couple of times to adapt to the sunlight. She was resting her head on Ben's chest and he had an arm wrapped around her waist, the sheets were twisted around her hips and around Ben's. Her right hand was placed on his chest, her wedding ring was shining under the sunlight and she couldn't help but smile, she was actually Ben's _wife_ now!  
A lock of dark hair fell on his face and she thought he was even more handsome when he was sleeping, she carefully brought her hand to his face to move the hair away from his eyes trying not to wake him up. For a while she just watched him sleep, but even if he was sleeping she could still feel his joy from the day before, a day none of them would ever forget.  
She softly placed a kiss on his chest and held on tighter to him, she felt so safe in his arms and it was where she'd truly felt home four years earlier, when she'd woken up in his arms. How many things had changed since then? Or maybe it was just her who'd changed, she wasn't the desert girl waiting for her parents anymore, she had finally found her place in the galaxy and that place was beside Ben as his place was beside her. They were two halves of a whole, they completed and balanced each other in a way no one else could, all their lives they'd always been bound to each other and now Rey was starting to believe they would have found each other even if things had been different.  
  
“Good morning sweetheart” Ben said with a soft voice, then he placed a kiss on her hair.  
  
“Good morning my love” she replied, lifting her gaze on his face and smiling at him.  
  
“How long have you been awake?”  
  
“Not much, but I didn't want to wake you up” she said “You know, after _yesterday night_ ” she joked, the night before they'd gotten so carried away by their own passion that they'd made love until they both had felt exhausted and fallen asleep. It had been their first time in their new home, since their arrival at Naboo they'd been so busy at cleaning up the house that every night they'd just collapsed on their bed tired and the first night there they'd even slept with their boots on.  
  
“Maybe you should get used to that if we want to _expand_ our family” he replied “But if you're not ready yet we can wait” he quickly added, she loved him even more for saying that, but she was ready for that step, she wanted to be _a mother_ and she wanted to have a child with him now that they had a home, a part of her was a little bit scared since she'd grown up alone but she knew she could be a good mother.

“I don't want to wait and I'm ready” she softly said “So why don't we start trying by now?”  
  
“I thought we were already trying yesterday” he replied laughing.  
  
“Well, not officially” she said leaving a trail of kisses on his chest.

* * *

Rey wasn't expecting to spend their first anniversary at the hospital, but apparently their daughter had other plans in mind and she'd decided to arrive two weeks earlier than expected.  
It had started all in the middle of the night and at first both she and Ben had been very scared, although they knew that sometimes it happened that a baby could be born earlier. However they'd calmed down a little bit as soon as they'd understood what was happening and that fear had been replaced by happiness because they would finally meet their baby girl.  
When they'd found out it would be a girl Ben had been so happy about it that he'd been the first to tell their friends, Rey's friends had become his friends too and they'd welcomed the news with joy. Of course they would've been happy too if it had been a boy or even if it had been twins, that was also a possibility since Leia was a twin.  
After hours of labour finally the baby had decided it was time to stop making her parents wait, it had been the most painful experience Rey had ever endured and she'd squeezed Ben's hand so hard that she'd thought she'd broken a bone or two, but it had been worth it because now she was holding their little girl in her arms.  
She was still exhausted, covered in sweat and everything hurt yet Rey had never been so happy, except on their wedding day. Ben was right there with them, he'd been there the whole time and even if he wuoldn't tell anyone he'd cried a little bit when he saw their daughter being placed in her arms, wrapped in the blanket Rose had made her and wearing one of the rompers Finn and Poe had bought for her.  
They named their daughter Leanna, a combination of Leia and Han's name to honor them and because they wanted her to have a unique name, they'd talked about it for months until Rey had come up with that idea.  
Leanna was awake and she was staring at her parents with her big hazel eyes, something she got from her but as for the hair, well that was all from Ben, just like she'd seen in her vision. She was so small although the doctor had said she was perfectly healthy just like her mother, who needed to rest for a couple of days.  
Ben was sitting on the edge of the bed, his left arm wrapped around Rey shoulders and she was resting her head on his shoulder.  
  
“She's so beautiful, just like her mother” Ben said smiling at the baby.  
  
“Heard that Leanna? Your father already loves you!” Rey said, did their daughter understand what they were saying? And actually they'd both loved her since the moment they'd found out they were going to be parents, but now she was there they loved even more.  
  
_“_ Don't worry sweetheart, I still love you too” he joked, Leanna looked at him and then at her, as if she was curious about that exchange of jokes between her parents.  
  
“Well, thanks my love” she replied with sarcasm.  
  
“ _Our little scavenger_ ” he whispered to her hear “I can't believe we have a daughter now and I've never been so happy” he admitted, wiping his own tears away with the back of his right hand.  
  
“Me neither, I mean...we actually made her!” she exclaimed not too loud, she didn't want to scare Leanna by raising her voice.  
  
“Rey...what if she's like us?” Ben asked concerned, they'd found out through the Jedi texts that in a few rare occasions Force users had children that couldn't even sense the Force at all so they were just normal people, they hoped that Leanna would be one of those exceptions too.  
  
“We'll protect her and we won't allow anything to get her away from us, she won't go through what you and I've been through as children” Rey declared “And _when_ we have other children we'll protect them too” Ben held her tighter and kissed her forehead.  
  
“I swear that nothing will tear our family apart, we'll _protect_ each other as we always did”  
  
“I love you Ben and I love our little scavenger too”  
  
“I love you too, both of you”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And they lived happily ever after!  
> I actually used a shyriiwook translator and somewhere I read there's a character whose grandmother was a Jedi but her son wasn't a Force sensitive at all, so that's what I'm talking about Leanna being a rare exception.
> 
> P.S. @SolosHeart how are you feeling my dyad? PLEASE DON'T KILL ME FOR ALL THOSE TEARS 💖

**Author's Note:**

> This story is a gift for the other half of my dyad @SolosHeart for her birthday and I already know she's gonna kill me for all the angst (sorry my dear friend BUT IT WAS NECESSARY) ❤❤❤


End file.
